Borrow the Makilien Trilogy

I’ve been working toward this for a few weeks now and am excited to announce that if you have an Amazon Prime account, all three books of the Makilien Trilogy are now available to borrow for free from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library!

Truth
Courage
Trust

Interview and Truth Giveaway

I was recently asked to do an interview for Writing 4 Two, and it was one of the most fun interviews I’ve taken part in. Lots of great questions. The interview is now live, and it includes a giveaway for Truth, the first book in my Makilien Trilogy. Be sure to head over there and check it out!

http://writing4two.blogspot.com/2013/02/feature-friday-with-molly-evangeline.html

Title of Ilyon Chronicles–Book 1

So here we are, first post of 2013! What better way than to announce the title of the first book of Ilyon Chronicles? That title is…*drum roll*… Resistance. It wasn’t the first title I came up with, but it fits the story perfectly, and I quite like one word titles like this.

Now, not only is the title finally revealed, but I’m also sharing a small synopsis. It’s the first look at the lives of my two main characters, Jace and Kyrin. Enjoy!

     Soulless. Monster. Animal.

     Could God ever love a half-blood who society looks on with such fear and disdain? Jace once believed so, but when tragedy shatters the only peace he’s ever known, all the lies and doubts he’s tried to put behind him descend on his grieving heart. With them come the haunting memories of the past he longs to forget, but can never escape.

     Taken from home at a young age and raised to serve the emperor, Kyrin Altair and her twin brother live every day under a pretense of loyalty and the threat of being discovered. After her unique abilities place her into direct service to the emperor, Kyrin finds herself in further jeopardy as it becomes increasingly difficult to hide her belief in Elôm, the one true God.

     As the emperor sets into motion long-devised plans to enforce the worship of false gods under the penalty of death, thousands of lives are endangered. But there are those willing to take a stand and offer aid to the persecuted. With their lives traveling paths they never could have imagined, Jace and Kyrin must fight to overcome their own fears and struggles as they become part of the resistance.

* * * * * * * *

Interested? I hope so. :) I can hardly wait to share more. Still no plans for a publishing date, unfortunately. But I actively update my Ilyon Chronicles Facebook page with all the latest news as I work through the series. So make sure to like it if you want stay up to date and catch any story snippets I post along the way. Also, if you’re interested, I have many growing boards for the series over on Pinterest. Lots of character, race, and setting inspiration for the story. You can kind of get a feel for the world there. It’s been one of the most fun aspects of writing this story.

Trust—Now Available!

The day has come! Trust, the final book of my Makilien Trilogy is now available. Kind of crazy to have come this far from the first version I wrote ten years ago to publishing the final book.

The eBook is available right now from these retailers, and I’ve set a special release/holiday price of only $0.99!

Kindle
Smashwords

In the coming weeks it will start to show up other places like Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Sony, etc. If you do not have a Kindle, other formats are available from Smashwords in the meantime.

You can purchase the paperback from:

Amazon
CreateSpace

As always, reviews are HUGELY appreciated. Even one or two sentences are fantastic.

Trust Cover and Synopsis

Well, after a slight delay in getting them both ready, I am very excited to present the cover and synopsis of Trust, the third and final book of the Makilien Trilogy!

* * *

   “I just can’t understand this, Elohim. When is any of it going to make sense? I really need You to guide me.”

   Struggling to cope with the losses of battle, Makilien seeks to live each day in trust of Elohim’s plans. As the conflict of hope and reality war in her mind, a sudden arrival changes everything, bringing to light a new scheme wrought by the remnant of Zirtan’s men.

   Finding herself witness to a shocking act of treachery, Makilien is thrust into the very center of the dangerous schemes of the enemy. Trust is something she must give carefully as those who appear trustworthy fail even as those she would least expect could hold the key to success. Can she and those around her secure their safety and freedom or will they find themselves outwitted by their enemy’s final act of dominance?

Trust Cover Costume

With the release of Trust fast approaching (I’m planning on a November release date, if all goes well), it’s time to start sharing things such as the cover, synopsis, book trailer, and all that good stuff. To start it off, I wanted to share a little about the costume that will appear on the cover. This one didn’t have nearly as many pieces as the Courage costume, but it’s a costume I’ve wanted to make for quite some time.

 

First we have the shirt. I’ve wanted to make a dress or shirt this color for a long time. The pattern I used was New Look 6179. It was a wonderfully simple shirt to make. I chose it because the drawstring neckline reminded me of a historical shift, and I thought it worked well for a fantasy outfit. The only modifications I made were to the sleeve length.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we have the overdress. This was another piece I’d wanted to make for a long time. This was quite the project. I used a grand total of 350 metal eyelets! All put in by hand. It took about three days of working hours at a time to attach them all. But I love the result. It turned out just like I hoped. The skirt of the dress has eight separate panels, which I can either lace or leave open, obviously for the easy of riding, combat, and other such activities. For underneath I have a matching pair of khaki pants. Like my Truth dress, I used McCall’s 5499 for the pattern. I again modified it to lace up in the front instead of the back, and I removed the sleeves. It is made out of 100% linen in it’s natural color, which is gorgeous and really adds to the historical feel of the outfit. It smells very natural too. :)

 

 

The primary inspiration for this costume came primarily from this outfit worn by Marian in BBC’s Robin Hood (the first two seasons are fantastic, by the way). I LOVE the aqua shirt and how it goes with the gray.

 

 

 

 

Inspiration for the construction of my overdress came directly from this dress (another Marian outfit). I just loved the idea of all the skirt panels lacing together. It was very out of the ordinary.

So there it is, the Trust costume. Now all that’s left is to release the cover. Are you excited? Fantastic, because I’m setting the official release date of the cover and book synopsis for this Friday, October 5th. Make sure to check back! I can hardly wait to share this new cover.

Favorite Gluten Free Recipes

I’ve been very neglectful of my blog lately. Unfortunately, when I get busy, it’s one of the first things to slip. Just a lot of things going on, not the least of which is learning to live gluten free. (It has made a huge difference in my health and quality of life, by the way.) It’s been a challenge, but also fun at times. My mom and I have been doing so much baking and making things we would otherwise have bought at the store. I don’t know what we’d do if we did not have the internet. There are so many great recipes, so I decided to share a couple of our favorites we’ve discovered in the last few weeks.

Best Blueberry Muffins

Source: artofglutenfreebaking.com via Molly on Pinterest

These muffins are AMAZING, and that is coming from someone who LOVES muffins. I was so sad to think I’d never get to enjoy my favorite muffins again, but these definitely cheered me up. They are probably the best muffins I’ve ever made, GF or not. I didn't take time to make the jam for the top, and I just used frozen blueberries, but they tasted delicious anyway. 




Hamburger Buns

Source: artofglutenfreebaking.com via Molly on Pinterest

This recipe comes from the same lady as the muffins. (She has amazing GF recipes!) I love a good cheeseburger and needed to find some good buns to go with it. A lot of GF bread is dry or too dense, but these buns are wonderfully soft just like they should be.  






Focaccia Bread

Source: glutenfreehomemaker.com via Molly on Pinterest

 These were the first hamburger buns we tried. I thought they were too dense and not soft enough for hamburgers, but for sandwiches they are excellent. They have a wonderful taste and smell divine when you’re mixing up the dough/batter and baking them. A very tasty and simple recipe, especially if you were to add some spices.





These are just a couple of the recipes. There are many more we plan to try. We have a few birthdays coming up so I’ll be looking for good cake and pizza recipes, and I'll be sure to share what I find. :)